Rival
by The seventh cat
Summary: There's a new student at Jeanette's school who immediately becomes the teacher's favourite. The chipette struggles to regain her attention but discoveres there's more to her new opponent than a brilliant mind and a pair of black-rimmed glasses... Simonette


**Hey, guys! This is a Simonette one-shot inspired by a person I met in sixth grade, another I met in seventh grade and one I met in eighth grade. Yeah, I've got many sources of inspiration. I'm proud to say that this is my debut in fanfiction, which signals that I've started my journey as a writer. Now, I'm extremely glad to present my first story, Rival. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Mrs. Tompson.**

**I wish you all pleasant reading.**

The winter sky glared down from above sending late autumn winds towards the ground. Snow fairies hid behind clouds waiting patiently for Christmas to spread their magical dust. It was noon and a little lonely creature walked the great streets. Numerous buildings came into view and fell behind as it paced forward with its head hung low. Jeanette was usually in a good mood but now she felt as if the sun and moon had collided. There was a new student in her class that the teacher had introduced this morning. He was a chipmunk like her and, oddly enough, had most of her features – brown fur, thick-rimmed glasses and, as she came to know later, a sharp mind. If you looked at it from a certain point of view, this was great. Everyone would like someone to relate to. But things hadn't turned out the best way possible.

_Flashback:_

Second period began and Mrs. Tompson entered the room with her typical barely visible smile. Jeanette walked to her place at the back next to her classmate Theodore looking expectantly at the woman.

Once everybody went quiet, the teacher made an announcement in her calm academic voice. "Good morning, class. Today we have a new student with us. Why don't you introduce yourself, sweetie?" The blue-clad chipmunk on her desk straightened up and did so in a tone not less academic. "Hello. My name is Simon Seville. I come from the neighboring school"

"Lovely. Now, you can choose where to sit" He nodded and jumped off the desk making his way to the seat on Theodore's other side.

"Let us start revising from last year. We shall start with invertebrates"

Jeanette prepared her hand in anticipation of the first question. Immediately after it was asked her upper limb shot into the air.

"Hm, who to pick…Simon" Mrs. Tompson smiled. The chipette turned her head bewildered to the said student. He replied with a perfectly structured answer.

"Correct. Now, can anybody tell us why?"

Jeanette's hand repeated its previous action.

"Simon' the teacher chuckled. Another wonderful reply.

The purple-clad creature stared at him. This was supposed to be her special moment, the few minutes when she'd have everyone's respect. And she couldn't even say a word. At the next question, thankfully, she got lucky and made an extensive description of the mosquito. When that was done, Jeanette turned only to find the new chipmunk staring at her the same way she had seconds ago. He looked down, then back to the teacher.

For the rest thirty minutes the warm-hearted authorized woman took turns choosing either of them since barely anybody else went through the trouble of participating in the scientific discussion. After every reply each would spare the other a glance and advert their gaze back towards the board.

The break began. The chipette made her way to Mrs. Tompson for some homework advice but saw Simon had beat her to it and was now doing what she intended to. Jeanette sadly continued forward going out the door.

_End of Flashback_

The bespectacled creature went under the fence of a nearby school yard she used as a shortcut. Thoughts of her rival ran across her mind sinking her mood and drowning her in despair.

Suddenly, a blue figure caught her sight. The chipette looked up confused. Not five feet in front of her stood the subject of her soundless discussion, who appeared to be unaware of her presence. Unsure of what to do, Jeanette enlarged the distance between them hoping to pass by unnoticed. Unfortunatel, the blue-clad student turned around startled. "Oh. Hello"

"Hello" she answered shakily.

"Um, you're from biology class, right?" The chipette nodded nervously.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Simon. Though, you probably know that"

"I'm Jeanette" Her sweaty hand shook his outstretched one.

"So, uh. Do you live close to school?"

"Yeah. Just two streets away"

"Oh. Me, too. I just, uh, stopped to think" He paused. His companion fidgeted with her sleeves uneasily. The cold wind was all that could be heard.

"I miss my old school" Simon finally broke the silence gesturing towards the building before them. "I miss its bright-colored walls, the cabinets with postures taped everywhere, the view from the windows, the friends I've known for years. I'll never see those things I took for granted again"

Jeanette looked at him sympathetically. "…But you can still see your friends, right?"

"Most of them live in the outskirts of town. They don't come here anymore" he sighed. A leaf fell nearby setting a chain reaction of others surrounding the two creatures.

"I, I-I'm sorry, I must sound pathetic talking to you like this"

"It's OK. I understand"

"…So, um, in which direction are you?"

"That way" the chipette pointed to a street.

"Really? Me, too. Let's go"

They started pacing slowly side-by-side. The sounds of the neighborhood engulfed them and echoed somewhere in their minds building up the memory of a noon none would soon forget. Both wavered between the urge to speak and the need to savor this moment.

At last, Jeanette came to the decision to peek sidewards. To her astonishment, the other chipmunk was doing the same. In an instant her heart jumped and her feet tripped as she went flying towards the pavement.

"Whoa!" Simon cried diving to catch the bespectacled creature, successfully pulling her up. Once she regained her balance he stared straight into her eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Thank you" the chipette mumbled shyly without returning his gaze. Her blue-clad companion smiled slightly pushing up her glasses. "You better be careful"

Their stroll ended too soon when they reached Jeanette's house. An oak tree's branches touched the roof while its trunk began from a sea of rose bushes. A few pale petals dragged along the sidewalk carried by the breeze. Both chipmunks slowly came to a stop at the front door.

"Well, this is where I live" she said.

"I see"

"…So, see you at school tomorrow"

"Yeah…"

The bespectacled chipette was about to open but Simon spoke up. "Jeanette" She turned around to look at him. He hesitantly leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Bye"

Jeanette froze. A faint blush placed itself upon her face. She put her back against the wall for support. The figure of her rival could still be seen twenty feet away. Something in his walk had changed. Every step was nervous, excited and faster than before. Just like her heart.

**And that was my first tale. I'm grateful that you spent your time to go through my head and peek. Thank you! You're always welcome to share your opinion by a review. If you don't have a profile or are new, remember that reviews are the best present a writer can get and it really isn't hard to just type a sentence. It might mean much more than you think.**


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